Sept. 2023 | Vol. 17 Iss. 09
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SUMMER STORM CATCHES CITY, RESIDENTS BY SURPRISE By Mimi Darley Dutton | m.dutton@mycityjournals.com
T
he morning after Draper got more than two inches of rain in one hour, city officials called it a 100-year storm. Not two weeks later, with more time to collect information and assess damages, Mayor Troy Walker referred to it as a 400- or 500-year weather event. “This was not a typical storm in any regard,” City Manager David Dobbins said. Regardless of if it was a century storm or a 500-year weather event, Draper was the epicenter of high winds, rapid lightning, powerful thunder and a deluge of rain that left an estimated $10.5 million in damages. There was no advance warning, though National Weather Service emergency alerts were broadcast shortly after the storm began and named Draper as an area of high impact. Sirens were heard soon after the start of the storm as fire
Heavy rain caused this landslide which intern caused the closure of the intersection at 1300 East and Highland Drive until crews could clear the road and deem the area and home above safe. (Linnea Lundgren/City Journals)
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